Friday, January 6, 2017

It’s not going to take long for the Cleveland Cavaliers trade with the Atlanta Hawks for the services of Kyle Korver will become official. Once the sharpshooting wing-man becomes a Cavs player, he has one thing to keep in mind about playing next to LeBron James, at least according to Kevin Love.

Love, who is currently dealing with food poisoning, one of a number of injuries the Cavaliers have been trying to find an answer to, has been playing with James since 2014, going to two NBA finals (not playing in one of them) with him, winning one NBA championship. And when asked what advice he has for Korver, who arrives to fill in the spot of the injured J.R. Smith as is regarded as one of the best three-point shooters in the league, if not the best of them when it comes to catch-and-shoot and hitting the wide open shots, Love had one simple thing to say.

Kevin Love’s advice to Kyle Korver on playing with LeBron: “When you catch the ball, shoot it.”

Simple, right? Just shoot. Quite simple for Korver, who makes 40.9% of his 3-point attempts this season and just under 49% of his uncontested 3-pointers. James averages 8.5 assists per game and is the playmaker for the Cavaliers, even moreso while Kyrie Irving is out. The Cavaliers have been surrounding him with shooters for some time now, and Korver should fit right in with guys like Love, Smith, Iman Shumpert and Channing Frye in his ability to make the most of James’ exceptional passing skills.

By sending Mo Williams’ contract and Mike Dunleavy to the Hawks for Korver, the Cavaliers actually saved some money. But this is a short term solution, with Korver hitting free agency at the end of this season. Korver, who hasn’t been to the conference finals since 2011 with the Chicago Bulls (losing to James and the Miami Heat), will be judged on one thing only: Whether or not he helped the Cavaliers make the finals for a third straight season, and win a championship. If it fails, giving up a first round pick for him on top of the players will be considered a huge mistake.